Device for heating orchards.



Patented Marjn, |902. c. Foune. DEVICE FUR HEATING ORCHARDS.

(Application med sept. 2e.'19o1,)

(No Model.)

W/T/VESEHS MyW/f4 l i EY To a/ZZ whom it mayconcemz;

PATENT 'Ferca' f p evieEHEATl SPECIFICATION frm'ig part of Lett-ers Noonan/Rost Patent No. 695,382, dated March 11, 190.2.

iipnanoniea september 26,1901. sentimental.Kaman.) A y Beitknown` that I,- CHARLES FROUDE, a citizen ofthe United States,residing at Riverside, in the` county of Riverside, State of California,have invented a new andusefull rnprovement in Devices .forHeating Orchards, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices used in raising the temperature in an orchard; and the objects thereof are to provide asimpleaand inexpensive device which is port-able, has no chlmney or pipe, which occupies but little space, and may be-illed with fuel and stored under the trees until wanted for use.

In raising fruits, and particularly citrus fruits, there are times when the normal temperature in the orchard becomes so low that some of the'fruit on the trees will freeze unless the temperature in the orchard is raised artificially. This has been done in various ways by means of devices more or less cumbersome and expensive. As it is uncertain just when these cold periods will occur-,it is necessary that the devices for raising the tem perature in the orchard shall be convenient and easily used, as but little time is allowed forlightingthedeviccs after-the thermometer shows that the danger-point in the temperature has arrived.

Another object is the production of a device that will use cheap fuel.

Ihave combined these desirable features in my improved portable device described herein and illustrated in the accom pan yin gdrawings, in which- Figure l is a side view of my device, partly broken away to show the fuel therein.. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the same, showing it ready for'use. Fig. 3 is a plan of the blank from which the cover is iliade.

In the drawings, A is a sheet-iron receptacle in which the fuel 1 5 is placed. It is preferablyin shape the frustumot a hollow cone, so that they may be packed together when not in use, the larger end thereof being open and the smaller end closed bya bottom A'. A short distance above the bottom the sides are perforated by a row of r'pierforations C, which preferably extend all around the same to admit air to the fuel contained in the receptacle when the fuel is burning. Near the forations D, preferably four in number, which provide draft-openings when the fuel is burning and the `cover E is placedonthe receptacle, as shownin Fig. 1. 'lhe cover is formed from a square ypiece of sheet-ironand s bent at three corners on the dotted lines shown in Fig. 3, so that the bent portions shall stand at right angles to the main body and shall pass down over and just outside the top of the receptacle. The fourth corner is not bent, for convenience in handling, but may be bent, it desired. 'lhe fuel which I prefer to use in my stove is cotton-waste saturated with the very heaviest crude petroleum. Petroleum residuum left after disti-lling illuminatingoils from the crude oil may be used. ing my device the joints `are :so tight that such heavy f nel-oil will be retained in the bottom thereof below the lower perforations. The cover when placed on the receptacle, as shown in Fig. 1, protects `the fuel contained therein, so that the device may be charged with fuel, the cover placed thereon,.and then placed under a tree in the orchard. jxcessive cold sometimes follows a rain, and when the stoveis in the orchard the cover protects the fuel in the receptacle from .being damaged thereby. p

When it is necessary lto use the device, it isquickly removed `from under the tree and the fuel therein lighted. Then the cover is adjusted on the top, as shown in Fig. '2, .so that the fuel shall not be allowed to burn too quickly. From time vto time the opening at the top may be enlarged ordiminished, as occasion shall require. By this construction a light heap'portable device is provided which will'protect the fuel therein when not in use and in which the consumptionof the fuel is easily regulated. I have "found inpractice that the fuel in such devices will burn .about four and one-half hours and that a sufficient n umherfrom thirty to fifty to theacre-will in almost all cases prevent the temperature l'romhfalling so low in the orange-groves of southern Galifornia that the fruit will be injured by the cold.

.I have illustrated my stove as conicalshaped; but any other shape may be used without departing from the spirit of' my invention, which consists of a fuel-holding receptacle with a tight bottom and having air- ICO 1. An orchard-heating device," comprising a receptacle for holding the fuel, open at the top `and, closed at the bottom, and providedy with air-vent holes in the sides near the bot-` tom thereof, and draft-openings nearthe top thereof; I and a cover for said receptacle, adapted lto be moved along and across thet top thereof` to regulate the burning of the yfuelfin saidpreceptacle; the cover consistingA of a blank Sheet of metal in la square form, three oit' the corners thereof being bent atright angies to the plane of the body portion.

2. In an orchard-heating device, acove'r for said device, formed from a blank, with three corners'turned at an angle/to the :nain body of the cover, to hold the cover on the device at different points, and being in area sufficient to cover the top opening in the device.

3, An orchard-heating device, comprising a fuel-holding receptacle, in shape the frustum of a cone, the larger and top end of which `is open, nand' the smaller or lower end closed;

air-vents and draftopenings in the sides of said receptacle near the bottom and top thereof, respectively, and a cover forsaid receptacle havngthree' of. the corners bthereof bent atan angle to the. other 'portions to hold the cover in place over the top opening of said receptacle'. y i v 1n wtnessthat I claim lthe foregoingI have herento subscribed my name thisV 17th day of-septmbenlool. I i A a CHARLES FROUDE.v

*I Witnesses: y

1?-, WARrER.' R. 0. SIMPSON. l 

